Anchors Away in First Grade

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Happy Winter! I am so excited to be teaming up with very talented bloggers and TPT Authors for a blog hop-my very first one! I've been watching all the pictures and videos of #blizzard2016 affecting the mid west and east coast and am astonished at all the snow (and praying for their safety)! While we don't have snow, we do have some other fun and entertaining places, we thought we would share with you. So if your one of those stuck in the snow, I hope these pics will bring you a little winter joy, or maybe help you plan your next family vacay!Some of my favorite things in So Cal...

The Water. I love being out in the water, by the water, near the water. It's one of my favorite things about Southern California. In October, we went on a friends boat out of Newport, along the coast to Emerald Cove where my girls paddleboarded (I love to as well!) and we all hung out on the boat.

Laguna Beach. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this little city. We love to wander the shops, eat at funky little places and explore the area. My oldest found this "little hike" at Thousand Steps Beach. Not goin lie-barely made it back up those 230 steep steps #needtogetinshape.

Irvine Spectrum. We are a family of three girls so of course shopping would be one of our favorite things to do and places to go. In winter, they have an outdoor ice rink. And how can you pass up Barnes and Noble, cheesecake and LOFT. Read, Eat, Shop=life!

It never seems as if you have enough time to do all things you need or want to do. I have really tried to make a conscientious effort to add some fun into our lives. My oldest is a senior and I feel like our time is so precious before she's off to college. Trying not to waste the time so we try to have little dinner dates, go on hikes, find quirky things to do and just spend time together.
Speaking of time...
I created this great unit on Time
and you can get a freebie by clicking here...

Head over the Shawna, The Picture Book Teacher to keep the Winter Fun going...

Sunday, January 25, 2015

"The ants go marching one by one, Hurrah, Hurrah!"
It's about this time of year that I hope all my little ants are indeed marching to the beat of the classroom. They know where to put their papers as well as are well-versed in all our classroom rules. And if they perhaps, miss a beat they are confident enough to figure it out. It's also this time of year that I am reminded that I teach first grade and Lord, love my little guys, I always have one or two little ants who not only can't find the beat, they can't find their glue stick. "What page are we on? I don't have that page in my book? It's not there!" Invariably, the page, glue stick, pencil or book is indeed right there. My goal is to help my little ants find their way, to be problem solvers and solution seekers. You can often hear me saying, "Well, it didn't walk out the door so what can you do next to solve the problem?" (Of course, it would be my luck if ants truly did carry it out the door!) Life will be full of twists and turns and I want my firsties to be confident in their ability to try and keep trying without giving up. So I created a little card that goes on the desk as a reminder to keep going. Hope you might be able to use it, too.

Head to my TPT store to download all 4 cards...TPT...they're free!!
Happy Sunday,

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Ahoy!
I am joining Great Minds Teach Alike for a tech link up. Recently, I went to an iPad training and was introduced to some great apps to use in the classroom. The one I am super excited to share with you is called "My Story-Book Maker for Kids" by HiDef Web Solutions. It is $3.99. This last week we finished our Frog and Toad Literature Unit. My firsties wrote a little story with a problem and solution and drew 2 pictures to go with their story. This next week, we will be putting it into the app for each student to have their own story. Some great features of this app...

Super easy to use

Students can draw a picture in the app or you can insert a photo of their hand drawn picture.

Stickers and text can be added to any page.

Voice button. My students are going to read their story on top of each page.

BEST FEATURES....unlimited pages, unlimited books and you can publish your book and send to Google drive, Facebook, email, twitter, iBook etc.

Here is a sample page of a book I made about my daughter and her BFF.

Thanks for reading and let me know if and how you use this app in your classroom. I would love to know. Happy Sunday.

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Partners?!?! At the beginning of the year, asking students
to pick a partner involves a certain amount of cringing on my part. A few years
ago, I decided to combine our numbers to 10 facts and pairing up. I made a
quick freebie to go along with it. I
have a set of ten frames and I pass out ten frame to each student. The students
find their partners…the number, added to theirs that equals 10. Voila…math
practice and a partner!

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Ahoy! My name is Kimberly DeAllen. I'm new to blogging so joining up to share a little about me.

THESE
ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS...

·Movies: One of my all time favorite is the “King and
I” …love, love, love!

·Books, Books
and more Books! Tall ones, skinny ones, old ones and new ones, and of course,
The Good Book! I love to read. I love to be transported to a different time and
place and experience an adventure through text.

·Red roses: Well actually only the kind that are
followed by “Will you accept this rose? (since my favorite flower is actually a
daisy). I am hooked on “The Bachelor” for better or worse that is my reality
TV.

·Caffeine: grande skinny mocha or diet coke or even
ice tea.

·Friends and time away. There is no better combo.

·Curly haired girls: Specifically these two…

They are amazing, talented, smart, funny, generous
and mine.

IF YOU
WEREN'T A TEACHER, WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO BE?

An
owner of a quaint, little coffee/tea house around the corner filled with books
where people just come and hang out.

THREE
LITTLE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE YOU.

Creative,
thinker, loyal

FINISH
THE SENTENCE, "________, SAID NO TEACHER EVER!!"

I just love answering the question from a parent “What
are you going to do for my child? He/she is so bright I’m sure they will be
bored all year!”

Q: IT'S
YOUR BIRTHDAY AND YOU CAN INVITE ANYONE {DEAD OR ALIVE} TO THE PARTY. WHO ARE
YOU INVITING?

Priscilla
Shirer. I adore her studies and I would just like to glean a little from her
life.

Q:YOU
GET TO PICK ONE SUPERPOWER. WHAT IS IT?

Speed,
to zip around and do everything I need to do. And if I have super power does
that mean I get a sidekick cause I would LOVE an extra me!

Q:
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE OR SAYING?

“but
those who hopein theLordwill renew their strength.They will soar on wings like
eagles;they will run and not grow weary they will walk and not be faint .” Isaiah 40:31

…cause
Lord knows I need His strength to soar!

.Q: ARE
YOU A MORNING PERSON OR A NIGHT OWL?

I’m a
night owl forced into a morning person.

Q:
SHARE SOMETHING WE MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU!

The
anchor on my blog holds special meaning. My parents were divorced when I was
little and starting at around age 8 I would go to my “dad’s house” for 6 weeks
in the summer. My dad lived on a Peterson 44, a sailboat. We traveled all
around the Channel Islands and then later Hawaiian Islands. These experiences
of adventure are a large part of what makes me ME!

I hope you had fun getting to know me. I'm loving getting to know so many of you. Here is the link back to Falling into First